Minor parties

POLITICAL PARTIES 

A group of persons who seek to control government through the winning of elections and holding of public office 



REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT Who was the first democrat?  Who was the first republican?  Who is the current Dem. Candidate for pres.?  Who is the current Rep. Candidate for pres.? 

MONEY 

To run for office you need money!  Two

ways:

 Donations  Personal

account 

 

Anyone can donate to a presidential or political figure’s election SUPER PAC The creation of a group of very rich people that use their money and their businesses money to get a politician elected

OBAMA CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL 

OBAMA COMMERCIAL

ROMNEY CAMPAIGN COMMERICAL 

Believe in America - YouTube

THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM 

Elections are shaped to preserve, protect and defend the two major parties in America  This

promotes compromise  Too many parties = too many radical ideas  Bipartisan

is when compromise is made between 2 parties. So if you were to act Partisan, you would refuse to work with someone from another party

TWO-PARTY SYSTEM 

Our government was created without political parties. 



The first were the Federalists and the Anti-federalists. Alexander Hamilton led the Fed. Then Thomas Jefferson started the Democratic-Republican party

4 MAJOR ERAS OF POLITICAL PARTIES 

Era of the democrats: 1800-1860  Led

by Jefferson (1800-1808) – The era of Good Feeling  Then, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)  The

Dem. Party started to split up, and eventually the WHIG party formed (2 presidents William henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor)  The Civil War finally split the Dem. Party up for good.

4 MAJOR ERAS OF POLITICAL PARTIES Era of the Republicans: (1860-1932) 

Led by Abraham Lincoln (1860-1865) 

Began as a Whig, turned to a Republican to oppose slavery 



Then Theodore Roosevelt

(1900-1908) Resurged the Republicans and led an era of progress 

The Great depression of 1929 took the wind out of the Rep. 

4 MAJOR ERAS OF POLITICAL PARTIES 

The Return of the democrats: 1932-1968  Led 

by Franklin Roosevelt (1932-1945)

Took America from the Great Depression to WWII

 Then, 

John F. Kennedy (1960-1963)

Brought hope back to America

 Lyndon

Johnson ended the Era by getting America involved in Vietnam

4 MAJOR ERAS OF POLITICAL PARTIES 

Era of Divided Government: 1968-present        



Rep. Rep. Dem. Rep. Rep. Dem. Rep. Dem.

A different party nearly every 4 – 8 years.  

The use of main stream media: 24 hour news networks, Internet Americans are picky, blame everything on the president.

MINOR PARTIES

MINOR PARTIES 

There are 4 distinct types of minor parties: 1)

Ideological parties: based on a particular set of beliefs A comprehensive view of social, economic and political matters.  Most patterned after MARX 

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Socialist, Communist

MINOR PARTIES 2.

Single-Issue parties – focus on only one public-policy matter. 

Names usually indicate concern 

EX: Free Soil  opposed the spread of slavery Know Nothings  opposed Irish Catholic immigration

MINOR PARTIES 3.

Economic protest party – have been rooted in periods of economic discontent  

They are disgusted by Major parties (Dem, Rep) Focus their anger on enemies such as “Wall Street Bankers” 

EX:  

The Greenback Party – appealed to struggling farmers The Populist Party – want public ownership of many big businesses

MINOR PARTIES 4.

Splinter Parties – Those that have split away from other parties.  

The MOST IMPORTANT of all minor parties! They usually form around a strong personality (leader) 

Examples: 



“Bull Moose” (progressive) party – TEDDY ROOSEVELT  Roosevelt was a Rep. president, but switched to the BULL MOOSE  The party gained the most votes ever for a minor party candidate in 1912. Green Party – Ralph Nader

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PRO – obama

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PRO - Romney